Chapter One: Twist rolls and the Devil's Nest!
by XIIIBlackCatXIII1
Summary: Icchan goes shopping in Dublith, only to find she's made it into the bad side. She stumbles into the Devil's Nest.


It was nine o' clock in the morning and Icchan shivers as she opens her red eyes. She winces at the sunlight pouring into her room. "I don't wanna get out... I'm comfy..." she pulled the overs over her head and peeked out the side at the closed wooden door. /sigh/ And she sits up in the bed yawning, her arms over her head and a tear in her eye. Smacking her lips together she wipes the tear away. Standing up steadily in her bed, she reaches for the double curtains and pulls them apart. She framed glass making little squares on her sheets and hard wood floors. Icchan smiles. "I am going into town today!" She giggles and hops off the bed, swinging the doors open and running through the halls, her gown flowing behind her.

It's been about 2 years since she's lived in the mansion by herself. Which, surprisingly, has made her happier. Sometimes feeling lonely but only sometimes. She makes her way to the kitchen and prepares herself breakfast. Even an artificial homunculus needs to eat sometimes, she eats an egg and cheese omelet with orange juice. She stares out the kitchen window and smiles.

She stands up and runs quickly upstairs to change. Rifling through her closet to find an appropriate dress to wear, she knows it is cold outside so she picks out a purple frilly dress with a black rose coat to go with it. Putting on a pair of boots and keeping some money she runs out the door into the town of Dublith.

After about 30 minutes of slowly making her way into the city she smiles widely. The bazaars and shops... she streets are lined with people. Every now and then new comers would stare at her for her oddly colored hair, lips and eyes. But she just smiles at them as she walks past.

"Icchan!" a males voice called from the local bakery. She smiles and runs up to him. "Hello my Lawrence! How are you?" She exclaimed. He chuckles, his hand behind his head. "I am good. I have new breads if you'd like to try them." She nods. "Of course!" She walks into the bakery and sees the new products on display. She points to one in particular.

"What is this one?" she asked. He looks over the counter and laughs, reaching for it ad pulling it out for her. "That, sweet girl, is a twist roll. Very sweet. It's wrapped in this new sugar we got. It's called 'brown sugar'." Icchan tilts her head. "May I try?" The store owner nods and hands her one. Icchan takes a bite of the bread and her eyes glimmer. "MR. LAWRENCE! THIS IS AMAZING!" He gives out a hearty laugh. "Take as much as you like dear girl!" She bows. "Oh thank you thank you!" Humbly, she only takes 4. Even though she wanted the whole batch.

She walks out the shop waving, her mouth full of half a pastry. But she runs into someone. She bows to him. "I am so sorry." she apologizes. She looks up at him and sees spikey black and red hair, a prominant face, white fur-lined black leather jacket... He smiled at her with fanged teeth. "Nothing to be sorry about woman." he walks off and waves to her from behind, his wrist in thin black bracelets. Icchan tilts her head and begins walking, but she steps on something. She looks down and picks up a match box. "Hmmm?" she flips it over and on the front it says 'The Devil's Nest' in fancy font.

"The... Devil's Nest...?" she tilts her head and places the tiny box in her bag. Icchan continues on her way through town.

After about 2 hours of gathering groceries and some little knick knacks she makes her way down a cobble stone alley. "Hmm... I didn't know this existed..." Little does she know she is in the 'bad side' of Dublith. /Not many people creeping around here.../ she thought. /I wonder if it's abandoned?/ She turns corner after corner and sees another hole in the wall shop. Icchan looks up to the the sign "Devil's Nest" on it.

/I wonder what's here?/ she shrugs and walks down its' flight of steps and opens the heavy wooden door. Her eyes widened. "It's a bar?" she whispered. It's filled with people, but in her mind they don't look so normal. She pulls her hair to the side and sits on a bar stool. She looks at the selection of alcohol. The bartender comes up to her. He's a fairly big guy with mutton chops and something poking from his forehead. She stares at him for a few seconds before he gets snappy. "Well. Little girl. What do you want?" "A-Ah yes!" she stutters and points to a bottle. "I want that one. The one that says 'stray dog' on it." The man smiled. "Of course." He reached for a glass and poured her some. "So what brings you here, little lady?"

She blushes. "Well..." she began, and rifled through her bag and pulled out the match box. "I ran into a man earlier and I figured I would try and find this place. He... had the same mark I have. Except it was on his left hand." She looked up at him and saw his eyebrows were raised. Then she noticed how quiet it had gotten, she looked behind her and the atmosphere totally changed. Everyone was looking at her. "Uh... I should better go..." she stood up and paid the bartender.

She hurriedly left the pub and took several deep breaths.

Running up the stairs she ends up in the 'good side' of Dublith. Standing on the right side of the street her breaths become heavier. /he had the same mark as me... but... I thought.../ she looked back at the alleyway and shook her head. /I'm imagining things./ She pulled out another twist roll and eats it, preparing herself for the walk home.

Further behind her, the man she previously ran into watched her from a corner.


End file.
